Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Halfway Point 2010: 71-75

71. New Pornographers – “A Bite Out of My Bed”

Playing the Fox Theater in Oakland on Sunday ... you should come!

72. Apples in Stereo – “Dance Floor”

I think I've said enough about the Apples in Stereo here.

73. MGMT – “Flash Delirium”

While MGMT's first album featured three songs that were basically just giant hooks, 2010's Congratulations has garnered mixed reviews for a 60's psychedelic-pop sound (think Zombies) where the hooks are smaller and buried deeper in more sonically detailed works (for me, the big moment in this one comes at about the 3:30 mark when they bring back the "Even if my heart collapses" line) - this approach requires more work from the listener, and it's not always worth it on this record ... but sometimes it is.

74. jj – “Let Go”

"Let go / Let your skin show / You've been in the sun today" ... (Bonus Sweden Fun Fact:  An old Swedish law called ‘Every Man's Right’ means that it is legal to visit somebody else's land, to bathe in their lake, travel by boat on their river, and pick the wild flowers, mushrooms, berries, fallen cones, acorns and nuts you find there).

75. Big Boi - "Follow Us"

This is obviously a really good song, but I like it so much more because the hook is absolutely perfect for a terrible, forced rock-star guest spot ... and instead Big Boi goes with Vonnegutt, an unknown band from his Purple Ribbon label ... keeping it all in the family (NOTE: I have since listened to some Vonnegutt, and they are teetering very close to 3OH!3/Chester French/Asher Roth-level white-boy rap-rock horribleness ... so I reserve the right to change my mind on this one if they ruin it for me).

1 comment:

  1. Really solid five. I can't seem to get behind jj, but the rest is great music. Love Apples in Stereo, and even though MGMT's new album sucks, they at least tried to change their sound. I respect that.

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